Fpl Profits Hit Record $618m In '97

CORPORATE

FPL Group said Thursday that it has again posted record profits _ and that it is shifting senior managers to pave the way for more investments outside Florida.

The holding company for Florida Power & Light said it earned $618 million in 1997, a 5 percent increase over 1996.

And FPL said it was creating a new subsidiary, FPL Energy, to act as an umbrella over the investments it has made in U.S. and international markets. FPL Energy will be run by former holding company Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Michael Yackira.

The division will include FPL's latest purchases, the power plants bought last week in Maine, Massachusetts and New Jersey, as well as those in Colombia.

FPL Chairman James Broadhead said in a statement that the creation of FPL Energy ``will enable us to more effectively manage our growing interest in electricity'' outside Florida.

Some Wall Street analysts believe FPL will be buying more generating capacity around the country as it takes advantage of deregulation in other states.

The profits and expansion plans come, however, even as FPL's service in Florida is scrutinized by regulators.

On Jan. 9, the state Public Service Commission concluded in a report that increases in the number and duration of power outages experienced by FPL customers were partly due to the utility's cutbacks in operating and maintenance expenses.

FPL did not dispute the findings but said it spent $3.5 billion in plants and equipment in the past three years and will spend another $1.7 billion in the next three years.